Global Cement News

Cameroon: Engineering Construction Manufacturing and Trading plans to build a new 0.5Mt/yr cement plant. The project has an investment of US$27m, according to the Agence de Presse Africaine. The local company has signed an agreement with the Investment Promotion Agency to build the plant. It enables it to receive customs and tax breaks as part of the deal.

Africa: The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to help Dangote Cement’s production capacity to expand 27.5Mt/yr by 2030. The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) made the forecast as part of a report on the potential benefits of the free trade area, according to this This Day newspaper. The report follows a meeting of the African Union in Mauritania in late June 2018. It used the cement industry as a case study for the benefits of the free trade arrangement.

Saudi Arabia: Cement sales revenue is expected to fall quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2018 due to restructuring in the industry and holidays in the period. A report by Al Rajhi Capital found that cement sales volumes fell by 16.7% year-on-year in April and May 2018. 15 cement companies reported falling sales volumes, led by Riyadh Cement and Cement City with 44.1% and 37.5% declines respectively. Only two companies, Tabuk Cement and Hail Cement, reported growth. Total inventory for the industry grew by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter to around 36.2Mt at the end of May 2018. The financial services company forecasts that revenue in the cement sector will fall by 6% year-on-year.

Nigeria: Aramando Martinez, the director of Dangote Cement’s Ibese plant, says that the unit exports 15 – 20% of its total production to markets in Benin, Togo and Ghana. The plant has a production capacity of 12Mt/yr, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Martinez added that the plant has also concluded plans to export 2Mt of clinker to grinding plants in Ghana and Cameroon in the second half of 2018.

Ghana: The Cement Manufacturers Association of Ghana (CMAG) formally inaugurated itself at the start of July 2018. The association is intended to protect and accelerate the development of the industry, according to MyJoyOnline. Members of the association include Ghacem, Diamond Cement and Ciments de l’Afrique (CIMAF). In its constitution the association stated that it, “is not a cartel, but an umbrella body for cement manufacturers in the country.”

Raju Baddharaju, Diamond Cement, has been appointed as the first chairman of the association’s board. George Dawson-Ahmoah, Strategy & Corporate Affairs Director of Ghacem has been appointed as the executive secretary with effect from August 2018. Other members on the governing board include: Morten Gade-Member, Ghacem; Eugene Laryea-Member, Ghacem; N. Venkatesh-Member, Diamond Cement; Mohamed Bennis-Member, CIMAF; and Joseph Aboo-Member, CIMAF.

Previously, the Ghana Cement Manufacturers Association (GCMA) published its memorandum of understanding in 2015 with Ghacem and Diamond Cement as its founding members. Dawson-Ahmoah was the chairman of an interim executive body for the association.